Lufthansa, SWISS to harmonize summer schedules

Lufthansa, SWISS to harmonize summer schedules    Lufthansa and its recently acquired Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will this summer harmonize their schedules to and from South America and Southeast Asia to offer transfer connections between their services in Sao Paulo and Bangkok.
   Under the new arrangements, which come into effect with the start of the 2006 summer schedules on March 26, SWISS will extend its present five-times-weekly Zurich/Sao Paulo service to Santiago de Chile, while Lufthansa will offer a daily service on the Frankfurt/Sao Paulo/Buenos Aires route. The two westbound flights will arrive in Sao Paulo from Europe at almost the same time. The same arrangements will be made for the SWISS and Lufthansa services from Santiago and Buenos Aires respectively.
   All flights between Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile will be operated as codeshare services, carrying both SWISS and Lufthansa flight numbers. With SWISS serving Sao Paulo only five times a week, Lufthansa’s Frankfurt/Sao Paulo flights will also be operated as codeshares on the days with no SWISS operation. The airlines plan to extend their codeshare arrangements to the Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires route.
   “In making these enhancements to our South America services, we’re extending SWISS’ integration into the Lufthansa Group to one of our most traditional markets,” said Thierry Antinori, Lufthansa’s executive vice president, marketing and sales.
   At the same time, SWISS and Lufthansa will also be coordinating their services to Southeast Asia to create a further mini-hub in Bangkok.
   In January, Lufthansa acquired 100 percent ownership of SWISS, following the successful conclusion of a squeeze-out procedure begun in August 2005.